Jackalopes use power plays to edge Cotton Kings

Coming into Saturday night's game against Lubbock Cotton Kings, Odessa had the second-worst power-play percentage in the Central Hockey League.

The Jackalopes had converted less than 11 percent of their man advantages, and in a loss to Amarillo on Friday, they were 0 for 10 on the power play.

Odessa didn't have any power-play problems on Saturday, however, scoring three times with a man advantage - and twice in a decisive third period. The result was a 5-4 victory that gave Odessa a four-point lead over the Cotton Kings in the Southwest Division.

"We were (bad on the power play) at the beginning of the year, but we've actually picked up it a bit," said Odessa coach Don McKee, whose Jackalopes (13-8-3) have won three in a row against the rival Cotton Kings (12-11-1). "Having Mike Rutter back in the lineup has helped quite a bit. We were 3 for 9 tonight, which is a pretty good percentage."

Rutter, who missed 15 games with a groin injury, scored Odessa's first power-play goal and added an even-strength goal in the second period. Matt Cressman and Sebastien Thinel each scored power-play goals in the third period, giving the Jackalopes their first win of the season at Lubbock Municipal Coliseum.

In Odessa's previous trip to Lubbock on Nov. 8, the Cotton Kings cruised to a 7-1 victory.

"We had to learn how to win in this building," said McKee, whose team will face Lubbock six more times this season. "We got our butts kicked in here earlier, and I told our guys we had to learn to come into this building and play."

The Cotton Kings got power-play goals from Emery Olauson and Kyle Nosan, and a shorthanded goal from rookie defenseman Matt McNeely, but their penalty-killing unit wasn't up to the challenge. Before Saturday's game, Lubbock had snuffed its opponents' last 15 power-play chances.

"They tore us apart on special teams," Lubbock coach Chris Dashney said. "I've spent so much time trying to focus on our power play and get that going, and we've lost track of our penalty-killing. It's absolutely awful right now, but we'll work on it."

The Cotton Kings, who lost at home for only the third time in nine games, had to play from behind throughout Saturday's contest. Mike Brolsma tied it after Rutter's first goal early in the first period, but John Kozoriz gave Odessa at 2-1 lead late in the opening period.

The Cotton Kings tied it again on Olauson's goal about seven minutes into the second period, but Rutter scored exactly three minutes later to put the Jackalopes back on top.

Cressman extended Odessa's lead to 4-2 at the 2:28 mark of the third period, and less than a minute after McNeely scored the first shorthanded goal of his professional career, Thinel made it 5-3 with his team-leading 14th goal of the year.

The rookie Nosan scored with 6:40 remaining, but it wasn't enough for the Cotton Kings, who hadn't played since last Sunday.

"I'm not going to say we were rusty, we just weren't prepared to play this game," said Dashney, whose Cotton Kings will face Odessa again on Wednesday and Friday. "It was a chance for us to get to first place, and we lost at home on our home ice. You just can't let that happen."